Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Arrest Of Iranian National Who Procured Supplies For Iranian Petrochemical Companies

MANHATTAN U.S. ATTORNEY ANNOUNCES ARREST OF IRANIAN NATIONAL

WHO PROCURED SUPPLIES FOR IRANIAN PETROCHEMICAL COMPANIES

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Sidney Simon, Special Agent-in-Charge, Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, New York Field Office, announced today the unsealing of charges against SAEED TALEBI, an Iranian national, in connection with a scheme to illegally export from the United States to Iran parts and goods designed for use in industrial operations. TALEBI, 40, was arrested yesterday at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he arrived in the United States, and was presented and arraigned today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck.

According to the Indictment unsealed today:

On numerous occasions throughout 2011, TALEBI and others, worked to ship industrial parts and goods from United States-based firms to Dubai, acting through a company identified in the Indictment as “Company-1.” These items were then to be sent to various petrochemical companies located in Iran. Federal criminal law generally prohibits shipments of goods from the United States to Iran in the absence of an export license issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. TALEBI did not have such a license. In the course of this scheme, TALEBI also caused money to be wired to the United States, including over $300,000, that was sent to a bank account in Manhattan.

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The Indictment charges TALEBI with one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, together with Executive Orders and United States Treasury regulations, and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.

Mr. Bharara praised the extraordinary investigative work of the New York Field Office of the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. Mr. Bharara also thanked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, for its assistance.

This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane T. Stansbury is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.